Movi
A work colleague shared information about an upcoming camera that very cleverly turns one 4K image into a multiple-camera setup. That camera is theLivestream Movi, and it is now on the wishlist…
Battery life is one hour, so I would need the external battery pack (adds 10 hours of life) and/or a wired connection to power.
I tested Tweets For Keynote on El Capitan, and it looks like it will not work for me. As far as I can see the failure is with Twitter Scripter, which does not work as expected. Have not seen any recent updates….
I was in a Mobile Learning training session today (Out Of The Classroom And Into The World: Using Mobile Devices To Enhance Experiential Learning) care of MoLI. Along the way, I accumulated some resources that I will need to dig into later:
Tweets For Keynote
Part way through I was reminded that I had not used Tweets for Keynote for a while. What once was broken now looks to be fixed. I will have to try this again too…
OpenBoard
I have quietly been waiting for Open-Sankoré to update and support OS X Yosemite and/or El Capitan. OpenBoard (a fork of Open-Sankoré) works on OS X Yosemite and El Capitan, and looks pretty much identical.
Finding OpenBoard can be a little difficult, but can be downloaded here.
Interesting enough, Uniboard (the software that Open-Sankoré was based on) works in OS X El Capitan. The origin site to download it, however, does not:
Uniboard can be downloaded from Download.com
So, Uniboard and OpenBoard can both work on recent versions of OS X. My recommendation at the moment would be OpenBoard.
Ecamm BT-1
I updated my MacBook Air to OS X El Capitan (OS X 10.11) last week, and subsequently hit two issues.
The first issue was that Outlook would not work. This luckily has been fixed with an adapt from Microsoft.
The second issue is unlikely to be resolved. The Ecamm BT-1 Bluetooth Wireless Webcams that I use with ScreenFlow to record class presentations no longer work after the El Capitan upgrade. Ecamm discontinued the camera several years ago, so I don’t see any options beyond reverting to an earlier version of the OS. There don’t seem to be any viable alternatives yet. The Logitech Broadcaster Wi-Fi Webcam does not have an El Capitan driver, the HuddleCam Air HD is too expensive.
Sigh.
… it would properly be this one (GeekDesk Max).
Great Wall of China
I was in China recently (first time!) showing Chinese teachers how online learning is conducted in the U.S. Before leaving for China, I diligently checked on what to pack. I made some good decisions. I made some bad decisions. This post hopefully helps others about to make that long journey to a fascinating country.
My style of presenting and teaching is to use a MacBook Air, recording myself with a BT-1 Bluetooth camera (positioned towards the back of the room) and ScreenFlow.
I was in Beijing in June. Hot and humid. Definitely worth checking the weather before visiting. Chinese culture is not particularly bothered about formal attire, so no need to pack a business suite or dress shoes. For teaching in June, lightweight hot-weather clothing is the way to go:
Chinese airport security is more restrictive than in the U.S., you may be able to bring something into China, but taking it back on the airplane may be more difficult. One of the most useful gadgets I had on the trip (HooToo TripMate Wireless N Portable Travel Router with 6000mAh Battery Charger) was confiscated as I was leaving Beijing Capital International Airport. The reason was that it had a battery that lacked “proper wording” (officially declared capacity). My understanding is you want to have less than 100 watt-hours, and for this to be clearly stated on the device.
Typical Chinese Electrical Outlet
Whilst teaching, I was in typical Chinese classroom. Projectors worked with either VGA or HDMI connections; so having adapters for both was a must (which is where the Cable Matters® Mini DisplayPort to HDMI/DVI/VGA Male to Female 3-in-1 Adapter comes in very useful). Internet speeds could be slower than what I was used to, and WiFi could be slower than a wired connection – this is where bringing my own router and Ethernet cable brought dividends.
Explore Beijing Subway Map
Beijing’s Metro is fantastic (and rapidly expanding). New lines and stations are coming to service. This app helps you navigate, and has maps for each station
Express VPN
A VPN is required in China to access sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google.
Learn Chinese
English is not commonly spoken in China. A phrasebook is essential.
Hub+ for USB-C
No immediate need for this type of thing (Hub+), but looks interesting (and the thing I would want with a new MacBook). Kickstarter goal has been met…
The Jorno Bluetooth keyboard that I backed on Kickstarter is now available to purchase. Not the worst keyboard the consider…
Open-Sankoré does not work with OS X Yosemite. If you run the program in OS X 10.10, Open-Sankoré closes immediately. The only workaround I have discovered is rolling back to OS X 10.9 (Mavericks). The Open-Sankoré website does not provide much insight on when this issue might be fixed. However, it looks like there may be an alternative…
OpenBoard
Using Google Translate, I can see that SEM-Logistics and Christian Oihenart have released a version of OpenBoard that works on OS X Yosemite (although there is apparently a small bug in the display of the dock). I have not installed or tested OpenBoard, and have no idea how well this might work, but it is now on my radar.
The old link to OpenBoard is dead. This new one seems to work.